La Montée du prosélytisme dans le sous continent indien: Introduction/ The Rise of Proselytism in the Indian Sub Continent. An Introduction

Abstract

Proselytism in India is both a stimulating theoretical problem and a burning political issue. Such zealous endeavors to win over converts are part of the Christian tradition, but have remained relatively marginal in Hinduism and even in Islam. Although Hinduism is generally described as non-missionary, the Hindu sectarian traditions have endowed it with an important missionary dimension. Islam, on the other hand, has not been as intent on making converts as has often been suggested : for a long time, only some Shiite sects have displayed a real missionary zeal. Hence the following theoretical question: in what conditions do religions become missionary? The intrusion of Christianity in India, following the implantation of the first merchant companies in the 16th century, and especially in the wake of the British conquest in the end of the 18th century, brought about defensive reactions at first, as in the case of Nepal. Later, strategies of imitation were set up, namely Hindu and Muslim forms of "counter-proselytism". This issue is devoted to a study of the emergence of such proselytizing tendencies in Hinduism and Islam. It includes a description of this process as well as an analysis of the theoretical questions it raises, among which one may cite the way in which Hinduism and Islam have had to define themselves in new terms so as to develop their new proselytizing strategies, and the influence of those new attitudes on the religious conflicts that have been plaguing the Indian subcontinent for a century.